"Something went terribly wrong today," wrote a maritime industry blog adding that "As rudders on ships like the Colombo Express are powered by large, finely tuned hydraulic systems, it is possible that this system failed and was the cause of the incident."

The Suez Canal in Egypt connects the Mediterranean Sea with the Red Sea, allowing ships sailing between Europe and Asia to bypass traveling around Africa. It is one of the most heavily used trade routes on the globe, providing the country with roughly $5 billion in annual revenue, according to Reuters.

Traffic in the Suez was halted for three hours. Several containers fell overboard.